They took him literally
Appearing on CNN, David Gregory said, “I think one of the great mistakes of the Trump era are those in media, conservative circles and elsewhere who thought, ‘Don’t take him literally. He’s an idea. He’s representative of some sentiment out there.’ In fact, he should have been taken literally all along because his supporters, last week, took him literally and that mob stormed the Capitol.”
What an exchange
During Wednesday morning’s “Fox & Friends,” co-host Steve Doocy asked that if a Democratic president had told his or her supporters to storm the Capitol, would Republicans in the House and Senate move to impeach that president?
That set off colleague Brian Kilmeade, who incredibly told Doocy this: “You had no problem with President Trump up until this week. So what happened?”
So what happened? Was Kilmeade living in a cave with no access to the outside world in the past week?
Doocy responded, “Brian, what happened was the rioting and the looting at the U.S. Capitol.”
Just to remind you: Kilmeade is going to be the first guest host of a new weeknight Fox opinion show set to debut next Monday.
Ignoring the warning
After Trump supporters invaded the Capitol, Cumulus Media sent a warning to its radio stations across the country: Help induce national calm by knocking off the baseless rhetoric about election fraud. Brian Philips, the executive vice president of Cumulus, wrote, “There will be no dog-whistle talk about ‘stolen elections,’ ‘civil wars’ or any other language that infers violent public disobedience is warranted, ever.” He said there would be zero tolerance.
But Media Matters’ Jason Campbell and Alex Walker note that some of Cumulus’ best-known personalities continue to repeat misinformation about the election.
They report that since the memo went out, Dan Bongino has said “we had an election with unbelievably suspect behavior” and “we’ll continue” to “question the election” and “principles about what happened in the election, the constitutionality, are in dispute.”
Mark Levin has said election rules “were changed” and “what took place in this last election cannot be dismissed,” among other comments.
Campbell and Walker go on to point out several other examples from several other radio hosts.
One more thought about the Capitol attack
Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Mo., and Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., hand pizzas to members of the National Guard gathered at the Capitol Visitor Center on Wednesday. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
New revelations about last week’s deadly riot at the Capitol continue to emerge and they are even more frightening than originally thought. And it reveals that it could have been much, much worse.
Trump put out a video on the White House’s Twitter feed criticizing the violence, asking for peace, but then he talked about freedom of speech — an obvious complaint about being banned by Twitter, Facebook and other social media outlets. Here’s the video.
ABC chief White House correspondent Jonathan Karl said on ABC’s “World News Tonight”: “I am told (Trump) is angry about the vote. That’s not surprising. He’s also clearly scared. He’s clearly frightened about what comes next.”
Karl reported that’s why Trump might have put out the video he released Wednesday evening, although Karl also points out that Trump never took any responsibility for inciting the crowd that stormed the Capitol.
Is Parler done?
Reuters’ Elizabeth Culliford reports that Parler, the social media app favored by many Trump supporters because of its pretty much anything-goes policy, might be finished. Parler has gone dark after several major service providers cut it off because it could not regulate violent content. Now Parler CEO John Matze tells Culliford it may never come back. “We don’t know yet,” he said.
Culliford has more details in her story about Parler’s options.
‘I felt raw and exposed’
As I wrote about in Wednesday’s newsletter, there was a powerful moment on TV this week when CNN reporter Sara Sidner broke down while reporting on the coronavirus from a hospital in California.
Sidner wrote about the moment for CNN in a piece called “Why I Lost It on Live TV.” (The video of her emotional moment is included in the link.)
Sidner wrote, “I felt raw and exposed and embarrassed all at once. I have long been taught as a woman ‘never let them see you cry’ — not in public and especially not at work. But I did that Tuesday. I cried. I couldn’t control my tears. I couldn’t use my words. It happened not just in public, but on CNN, in front of America and the world.”
Sidner then goes into detail about what led to her emotional report in a compelling story that I highly recommend.
Don’t quote them
The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and MSNBC are among the most respected news outlets in the world. They also happen to often be on the receiving end of criticism and “fake news” attacks by President Trump and his supporters.
Perhaps because of the latter (and certainly not the former), editors at the New York Post have told staff not to use reporting from The New York Times, The Washington Post, CNN and MSNBC as the sole basis for any New York Post story. The New York Post is owned by Rupert Murdoch.
Now the amusing part: The New York Times and reporter Katie Robertson broke this story. Three New York Post journalists were the sources of Robertson’s story.
Robertson wrote, “Why did The Post single out these four outlets and not, say, Variety or CBS News? The three journalists said no explanation was given, but they added that the reason did not have to be detailed. CNN, MSNBC, The Washington Post and The Times are seen as liberal within the Murdoch empire, which is home to Fox News and Fox Business, cable networks that were instrumental to the rise of President Trump. To publish articles based on the work of those organizations would not fit the Post’s right-leaning identity, the journalists said.”
What makes the mandate so ridiculous is that these outlets have led the way in breaking stories about the White House, Trump and the election.
The Atlantic’s latest hire
The Atlantic’s exemplary coronavirus coverage just got even better. It hired Katherine Wu, who joins The Atlantic from The New York Times, where she has reported on the science of COVID-19 as well as its human toll.
Atlantic editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg said in a statement, “Katie is joining the best pandemic team in journalism. Across the past year, our science and health writers and editors have done historic work, and the addition of a brilliant reporter like Katie to this team is further proof of The Atlantic's commitment to covering this story.”
Yes, it’s a statement for a public relations release, but what Goldberg said is spot on. The Atlantic has been at the forefront of all news outlets in its coronavirus coverage.
What’s cooking
(Courtesy: The New York Times)
The New York Times is launching a new marketing campaign for NYT Cooking. It is to “inspire home cooks of every level to make delicious meals every day.” It will include TV, digital and social media advertising, and will run for eight weeks. NYT Cooking has been wildly successful for the Times. In 2020, the Times says the vertical attracted 113 million users to its recipes, guides and collections.
Hot type
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